Volume 5, Issue 16 October 2, 2020

PARKS AND RECREATION NAMES NEW DIRECTOR

Chesterfield County has named Robert W. Smet as the new Parks and Recrea- This issue tion Director effective Oct. 1. Smet has over 25 years of parks and recreation, construction, horticulture, project management, and environmental experi- Farewell to Director 2 ence. As Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation, management oversight of community recreation centers, 50+ active lifestyles, therapeutic recreation, River City Sportsplex 3 outdoor adventure programming, historical sites and programs, marketing and social media func- Bensley Recreation Center 4 tions, athletics, and spe- cial events all fell within his area of responsibil- History 5 ity. He also served as the Department’s Chief of Henricus Historical Park 6-7 Finance for two years, and was head of the CAPRA Stonebridge Recreation 8-9 accreditation/re- Center accreditation team, a

Parks Planning/Design and 10-11 group tasked with align- Construction ing operations with na- tionally recognized best Special Events 12 practices.

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FAREWELL TO PARKS AND RECREATION DIRECTOR

Farewell to Parks and Recreation Di- rector Dr. James Worsley. He began his tenure as Director on August 1, 2016. He moved up to Deputy County Administrator for Human Services for Chesterfield County on Oct. 1. We wish you all the best. Page 3 TOUCHING BASE

RIVER CITY SPORTSPLEX

Recent Improvements

The Chesterfield County Parks and Recreation Department celebrated recent improvements at River City Sportsplex in a ribbon-cutting cere- mony Sept. 30. The project included a 3,800 square-foot state-of-the-art building to house restrooms, con- cession operations and storage. The building boasts energy-saving fea- tures such as motion-activated pow- er and water and hand dryers, providing “no touch” features, no paper waste, and operational sav- ings. Over 500 additional parking spaces, safety fencing for all playing services, concrete walking paths, and ADA access to fields and ameni- ties were added. Landscaping, irriga- tion and internal wayfinding signage rounded out the project. Completion of the renovations took 11 months and were delayed by the coronavirus. Total cost of the pro- ject was $4.5 million. Video coverage Left to right clockwise: Dr. James Wors- of the ceremony and facility is availa- ley, Director, Chesterfield County Parks ble at and Recreation and Bob Smet, Incoming https://youtu.be/BkDXGpBT9D0 Parks and Recreation Director; Dr. Joe Casey, County Administrator, Chesterfield The sports complex serves as the County; Jack Berry, President and CEO, hub for sports tourism in Chester- Richmond Region Tourism ; field County, attracting teams from The Honorable Christopher Winslow, along the east coast. With over 20 Board of Supervisors, Clover Hill District tourism events and almost 200,000 participants and spectators annual-

ly, the economic impact to of this facility to the county is immense. For more information about River City Sportsplex, www.rivercitysportsplex.com Page 4 TOUCHING BASE

BENSLEY RECREATION CENTER Motivational Mondays

This week Bensley offered free resources on programs for those 50 and older to the communi- ty. Information regarding Medi- care benefits, Alzheimer’s Associ- ation, Chesterfield County Re- source Guides, Aging Services, Senior Helpers, Navigator, Blood Drive schedules and Medi- cation Disposal packets were available. Page 5 TOUCHING BASE

HISTORY Reopening

On Sept. 10, Magnolia Grange Museum House reopened to the public with lim- ited hours of operation since being closed in March due to COVID-19. Thanks to support from Historical Society volun- teers, the museum is open Thursday and Fridays from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. and Satur- days from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Aside from His- toric Trinity Church, the other historic sites on the Museum Complex are pres- ently still closed to the public. Saturday programs and activities will be resuming at Magnolia Grange starting in October as an effort to build up momen- tum for full operations later this winter. Site walk through assessments were conducted at Magnolia Grange this sum- mer, and new COVID guidelines are in place to ensure a safe visit for our visi- tors. Hand sanitizing stations have been installed and daily disinfecting proce- dures are in place. In addition, new sign- age has been installed both at the front entrance and in every room throughout the house. Additional facial coverings have been made available for the public when arriving, and volunteers have en- gaged in an in depth orientation to bet- ter prepare themselves for providing tours for our visi- tors. Page 6 TOUCHING BASE

HENRICUS HISTORICAL PARK Richmond Region Tourism Award

Henricus Historical Park is excited to announce they have won Richmond Region Tourism’s 2020 “Event of the Year” award for their Hops in the Park festival. Though the event is cancelled for this year, Henricus looks forward to being able to host this event in 2021.

Henricus Historical Park employees Chris Duball and Caitlin Sunderland accepting the award. Page 7 TOUCHING BASE

HENRICUS HISTORICAL PARK

On Monday, Henricus held a home- school day with great success. Family activities included learning to build a fire like the English colonists, an armor and musket demonstration, making their own compass, hand-dipping a mini candle, learning how the English colo- nists did laundry, making their own wo- ven fabric on a mini loom, and watching a blacksmith demonstration.

Henricus has begun working on repairs to the historic site. The first project to be completed was repairing the thatched roofs on both the officer’s and soldiers’ cabins. Page 8 TOUCHING BASE

STONEBRIDGE RECREATION CENTER

On Wednesday, Sept. 30, Master Gardener, Rick McCormick held a seminar on What If There Were No Bees? Great to have Stonebridge Recreation Center buzzing again and in a safe way.

Watercolor Basics class was also held Wednesday, Sept. 30 in the multipurpose room. This class is taught by Carol Henderson and meets once a week for six weeks. Seven ladies enrolled in class.

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STONEBRIDGE RECREATION CENTER

Functional Fitness is held with instruc- tor Kathy Maguire. This class has 12 par- ticipants and is new to Stonebridge Recreation Center. Kathy also teaches Chair Yoga and Gentle Yoga here at Stonebridge. Come check out a class! Page 10 TOUCHING BASE

PARKS PLANNING/DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION Page 11 TOUCHING BASE

PARKS PLANNING/DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION Page 12 TOUCHING BASE

SPECIAL EVENTS Performance Series: The Richmond Symphony

The Richmond Symphony performed at on Saturday, Sept. 26. Everyone enjoyed their social distancing circle and spent the evening listening to some great music. Over 500 people came out to hear the Rich- mond Symphony perform. Volume 5, Issue 16 Page 13

Chesterfield.gov/parks

www.twitter.com/CCPRVA

www.facebook.com/chesterfieldvaparksrec

Saturday, Oct. 3, 9 a.m.-noon Classic Car Cruise ‘Round, Begin at Oak Knoll Middle School/End at LC Bird High School Saturday, Oct. 3, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Eppington Plantation Tours, Eppington Plantation Saturday, Oct. 17, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Mid-Lothian Mines Landmark Tours, Mid-Lothian Mines Park Wednesday, Nov. 11, 7:30 a.m. Veterans Biker Rally, Chesterfield County Fairgrounds Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2 p.m. Veterans Day Ceremony, 1917 Courthouse

Registration is ongoing for Fall programs. www.chesterfield.gov/programguide

Details on events can be found at www.chesterfield.gov/parks